Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is setting sights on taking on a significant role in her career. Many were wondering what her next steps would be in the wake of her latest film becoming a box-office smash. The actress recently defied gravity in Wicked as Elphaba, and she wants the role of another flying character in the MCU. The MCU X-Men movie won’t be around for a while, but that hasn’t stopped Erivo from aspiring to play a crucial character in the upcoming Mutant Saga. Disney acquired the film and television rights to the X-Men in 2019.
The Desire to be MCU’s Storm
Cynthia Erivo wants to take the next flight as a comic book superhero Storm. She expressed interest in playing the character at the National Board of Review Awards Gala in New York City on January 7. She said, “I really want to play Storm. I know it sounds frivolous, but I think we haven’t uncovered how grand she is and all of that inner turmoil that she has. So I think there’s a world in which we could do something with that.” Storm is one of the crucial comic book characters in the X-Men saga.
She can harness the weather and has led many lives in Marvel comics. She went from being a child street thief in Cairo to being the Queen of Wakanda, the wife of Black Panther, who the late Chadwick Boseman portrayed in live-action MCU projects. Halle Berry, who played Catwoman, notably played Storm in the X-Men saga, starting with the first film in 2000 and ending with 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Alexandria Shipp played a younger version of Storm in the prequel movies X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The X-Men will be in a new era now that Disney has the rights to the characters. X-Men ’97, a sequel series to the original cartoon, premiered on Disney+ last year, with Alison Sealy Smith returning to voice Storm. Sealy voiced the character in the MCU’s What If…? season 3. Disney has incorporated X-Men characters since the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, and the film was a box-office success as the sole MCU property in 2024.
Storm strikes fear into her enemies with her powers as a wise mutant. She’s wise and one of the X-Men’s calm and collected members. Erivo is still achieving the box office and musical success of Wicked. Now that the sequel, Wicked: For Good will come later this year, anticipation will continue. Although fans have seen Storm portrayed twice in live-action, Erivo is right that Marvel hasn’t shown her full potential.
Kevin Feige Promises X-Men Presence
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teased at a Singapore event in November when and how the X-Men will make their arrival to the MCU. He gave fans a promising update on the franchise and their roles, saying, “It has already started. Certainly, Deadpool & Wolverine was the biggest yet, and I think you’ll see that continue into our next few movies and some X-Men players that you might recognize. And then right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. And, again, one of these dreams come true that we finally have the X-Men back at Marvel Studios.”
Feige’s comments indicate that the MCU will finally focus on more X-Men players. The fact that we will experience them in Phase 6 speaks volumes about how Marvel Studios will utilize the mutants. Marvel’s next few movies, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps, are set to put Marvel Studios back on track as Deadpool & Wolverine did. Is there a chance that the X-Men could appear in those films? Maybe, but Feige’s comments suggest we won’t see them anytime until Phase 6, most likely.
After achieving massive success in their film this past summer, could we see Deadpool and Wolverine return to the MCU? Could Channing Tatum return and reprise his role as Gambit? Based on Feige’s comments, it sounds like the X-Men will take control of Phase 7, and Storm has already made her appearance in the What IF…? season, along with Wolverine appearing in his team-up with Deadpool. Also, Marvel plans to release three films for 2028: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. Likely, at least one of those dates is an X-Men movie.
Many fans of the MCU have been expecting the X-Men to make their live-action presence after Secret Wars, and Feige’s comments seem to confirm that expectation pretty much. For now, fans will have to wait a while before the X-Men become the anchor superhero team for the MCU. The Fox era concluded with Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, which were low points for the Fox X-Men saga. Fans would want to see a proper farewell to the Fox X-Men and that era on a memorable note, and Marvel Studios may give them that opportunity.
Cynthia Erivo Awaits For Her Calling
Storm isn’t just an X-Men character; there is so much more to her that wasn’t explored in the Fox Marvel saga. She wasn’t getting the proper attention to develop as a character. Hopefully, if Marvel decides to cast Cynthia Erivo as Storm, she could possibly have the opportunity to find the character to her full potential. While Feige didn’t outright confirm that an X-Men film is in the works, he clarified that they would have a vast role post-Secret Wars. These movies are available to stream on Disney+, as well as all three Deadpool films.
Berry and Shipp performed pretty well as Storm, but her full potential was missing in those portrayals. Berry’s Storm was reserved, far from her bold portrayal in the comics and animated series. Shipp’s Storm never got time to develop as Shipp only played her for two films. Since the MCU has kept plans for the X-Men under wraps, it remains to be seen if Marvel Studios will cast Erivo as Storm or when she will make her live-action debut for Marvel Studios.
